News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily News: On-chain detective ZachXBT posted on X that he once posed as a client to infiltrate a criminal group suspected of laundering money for the North Korea-backed hacker organization Lazarus Group, and assisted in freezing funds related to the 2025 Bybit attack.ZachXBT stated that after Bybit suffered a $1.5 billion attack in February 2025, he discovered that more than 15 accounts in public Telegram and Discord groups were seeking help processing transactions related to the stolen funds. He subsequently contacted one of the Telegram users using the alias "Jimmy Green" and built trust through multiple transactions. According to his disclosure, on March 6, 2025, he transferred $3.497 million in USDC to an Ethereum address for a USDC-to-TRON-chain USDT exchange transaction with the counterparty. The source of gas funds for that address can be traced back to the Bybit attack funds and was publicly flagged as a Bybit attack blacklisted address.ZachXBT said that in subsequent communications, the counterparty revealed that their team had been involved in processing the stolen Bybit funds and disclosed in advance that the funds would be moved across chains including Solana. By matching transaction timing, amounts, and on-chain data, he identified a wallet cluster involving more than $12 million in Bybit attack funds, with fund paths spanning multiple networks including BTC→ETH→SOL→TRON. Approximately 442,000 USDT was frozen by Tether, and the group also attempted to launder money through Uniswap liquidity pools and low-liquidity tokens. Additionally, the counterparty disclosed having helped other clients process approximately $3 million in fraudulent proceeds, and ZachXBT traced the related funds to wallets associated with the sanctioned Huione Guarantee.ZachXBT revealed that in this investigation, he initially invested $3.497 million and bore a loss risk of approximately 5% per transaction. The intelligence ultimately obtained was provided to relevant investigative agencies and law enforcement authorities at the earliest opportunity. Since 2022, he has assisted in freezing over $75 million in funds related to North Korea-linked incidents.
据布鲁克林地区检察官 Eric Gonzalez 宣布，布鲁克林男子 Ronald Spektor（23 岁）因实施大规模 Coinbase 网络钓鱼诈骗，于 2026年 9月 23 日被布鲁克林最高法院判处 4至 12 年有期徒刑。 Spektor 冒充 Coinbase 客服代表，以"账户遭黑客攻击"为由，诱骗全美约 100 名用户将加密资产转入其控制的钱包，累计盗窃金额约 1594.4 万美元。被盗资产随后经多个加密交易所反复兑换洗钱，最终流向赌博平台、礼品卡及数字资产购买渠道。 Spektor 在 Telegram 频道"Blockchain enemies"中以 @lolimfeelingevil 为昵称公开炫耀犯罪所得，并招募他人协助实施社会工程攻击。调查人员通过区块链分析、数字取证及多项搜查令，将其家庭 IP 地址与多个被盗钱包关联，最终锁定其身份。 Spektor 已就全部 31 项指控认罪，包括一级洗钱罪、一级重大盗窃罪等，并被命令没收逾 50 万美元资产，同时赔偿受害者近 1600 万美元。
Odaily reports: Earlier this month, the verified Reddit account of streaming service HBO Max was hijacked by hackers, who deployed 108 malicious ads over approximately 48 hours, tricking Mac and Windows users into executing commands to install infostealer malware.The malware can steal browser credentials, Telegram data, Apple Notes, saved passwords, and crypto wallet recovery phrases, and may also alter wallet addresses in the clipboard. Reddit has suspended the relevant ads and launched a security investigation. The number of infections and crypto asset losses have not yet been confirmed. (Decrypt)
Odaily News: In an operation targeting the Telegram crypto escrow trading platform Xinbi Guarantee, the U.S. Department of Justice's Scam Center Strike Force restricted the handling of approximately $52 million in fraud-related cryptocurrency in a single day, bringing the cumulative total to approximately $938 million. Previously, the cumulative amount frozen, seized, or recovered had already exceeded $580 million.The U.S. Department of the Treasury stated that since its founding around 2022, Xinbi Guarantee has processed over $24 billion in transactions, involving digital assets and fiat currency, primarily serving Southeast Asian transactions. North Korean hackers and sanctioned entities are alleged to have used the platform, including entities under Jin Bei Group and Prince Group.A U.S. federal court approved the seizure on September 7 of the Telegram channel operated by Xinbi Guarantee. Law enforcement authorities also seized two payment wallets totaling approximately $12 million and applied to freeze another 47 cryptocurrency wallets suspected of being used for money laundering or associated with fraud-related service providers.The U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) added Xinbi Guarantee and its two supporting companies, Safew Technology and Anwen Technology, to its sanctions list on September 9. The U.S. Department of Justice also dispatched investigators to Madagascar to assist local law enforcement in cracking down on 13 scam compounds operated by Chinese nationals and to process over 3,200 electronic devices. (Bitcoin.com News)
According to official sources, OpenAI has banned a group of ChatGPT accounts suspected to originate from Russia, which were used to generate social media content promoting the self-described Israeli-based "expert community," International Burke Institute (IBI). OpenAI stated that the operation involved publishing content on platforms such as Substack, Telegram, X, Facebook, and LinkedIn, while attempting to conceal the operators' Russian origin. Investigations revealed that the IBI website contains copied and misattributed academic content, and has introduced a so-called "Sovereignty Index." Related content tends to present Russia in a positive light while criticizing Western countries.
Telegram founder and CEO Pavel Durov (@durov) revealed in a post that the Russian government has designated him as a "terrorist" because he refused to comply with Russian demands to implement mass surveillance and content censorship on Telegram. Under relevant Russian laws, Durov is prohibited from "publishing any information on the internet." Durov responded to this by stating: "Russian officials obviously fail to understand who can actually kick whom off the internet."
据 Cointelegraph 报道，澳大利亚互联网监管机构对 Telegram 提起法律诉讼，指控其未能移除支持恐怖主义的内容。
Russian State Duma Committee on Information Policy Deputy Chairman Sventsov subsequently suggested that Russian citizens suspend all financial operations within the Telegram ecosystem, including paid subscriptions and purchasing TON/Gram tokens, and wait for official statements from Roskomnadzor and FSB before making further decisions.
According to Cointelegraph, Telegram founder Pavel Durov was questioned by French investigators for more than six hours due to an ongoing criminal investigation. His lawyer stated that authorities do not yet possess evidence supporting the relevant charges.
: The US Department of Justice announced the seizure of an account that provided backend infrastructure for a subsidiary of Cambodia's Huione Group. Prosecutors stated that the account helped operate the Telegram marketplace Huione Guarantee, which matched stolen data, money laundering services, and tools for Southeast Asian scam operations.Additionally, on the same day, FinCEN took action to extend the existing Huione ban to its successor entity, H-Pay Service PLC, to prevent the group from circumventing US restrictions. According to court documents, the custody service operated by the account also assisted criminals, including money launderers, in cryptocurrency transactions. The case is currently being jointly investigated by the FBI's San Francisco office and IRS Criminal Investigation. (decrypt)
: Prediction market Polymarket is facing increased pressure from regulatory and sanctions compliance. It is reported that the platform is pushing traders to undergo identity verification (KYC) to mitigate potential legal and compliance risks.Although Polymarket's betting platform rules do not permit such activities in certain regions, some users have still been participating in market trading through automated trading bots and other methods, forming gray usage pathways in areas such as Russia. Some developers have even utilized tools like Telegram to organize trading traffic and expand their user base. As the platform scales and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, Polymarket is being forced to seek a balance between the decentralized prediction market model and compliance requirements to address potential sanctions and legal risks. (The Information)
Odaily reports, Singapore police have filed six charges of fraud against Zhu Juntao, the former CEO of the defunct crypto lending platform Hodlnaut. The charges allege that during the TerraUSD collapse in 2022, he instructed employees to issue false statements, misleading users to believe that Hodlnaut had no direct exposure to TerraUSD and had not suffered any losses from the incident. According to the prosecutor, the false information was published on Hodlnaut's Telegram channel, customer emails, and Zhu's own X (formerly Twitter) account. Under Singapore law, if convicted, Zhu faces a maximum of up to 20 years in prison, a fine, or both for each charge. (CoinDesk)
Odaily News Telegram founder Pavel Durov posted on X, stating that the "age verification app" proposed by the EU has design flaws and was compromised in just a few minutes. The reason lies in the fundamental security issues of its architecture that trusts user devices. The solution is positioned as "privacy-friendly," but it can actually be easily cracked. Its development path is summarized as follows: first, launch a system that appears to protect privacy but has vulnerabilities; after being compromised, use "fixes" as a reason to weaken privacy protection, eventually evolving into a surveillance tool in the name of privacy. Such "accidental vulnerability incidents" may be used to expand regulation, and the public is urged to stay vigilant.
According to DL News, several “revenge intermediaries” in South Korea that accept cryptocurrency as payment have recently remained highly active. These organizations receive orders via Telegram and offer services including intimidation, assault, and even murder disguised as accidents. They require clients to pay a 50% deposit in USDT and promise to send footage of the operation—recorded using body-worn cameras—via Telegram. Although the alleged ringleader was arrested on April 3, related online advertisements continued to appear as recently as April 13. This year, South Korean police have launched investigations into more than 50 such cases and arrested approximately 30 individuals; all cases were confirmed to involve cryptocurrency payments.